All of us, able-bodied or not, need to do more to keep ourselves and those around us safe on the road. Here are tips from The National Safety Council for reducing or eliminating blind spots by adjusting your car mirrors:

1) Sitting in your parked car, lean toward the driver’s-side window until the top of your head just touches the glass. Now, adjust the mirror so you can see just the tip of your left rear bumper.

2) Lean toward the center of the car and adjust the passenger-side mirror so you can see just the tip of your right rear bumper.

3) Sitting upright in the driver’s seat and glancing into the side-view mirrors, you now should have clear views of the lanes on either side of your car and not be able to see your car at all.

Traffic leaving your sight in your rear-view mirror now will pop into sight in your side mirror. And when it vanishes from view in the side mirror, you now should be able to pick it up with your peripheral vision.

To change lanes or merge with on-coming traffic you need only to tip or turn your head slightly, without needing to twist your head and shoulders to see traffic behind you.

The average 50-year-old driver needs twice as much light to see at night as a 30-year-old driver. Yet few of us do what is necessary to compensate for the reduction in night-time acuity that occurs in the aging eye.

As we age, changes in driving habits are crucial, and so are adjustments at home to prevent the all-too-common accidents that land older people in the hospital.

Traffic deaths are three times greater after dark than during the day, though only 20 percent of driving is done after dark. Fatigue and alcohol are two important causes, but experts say the biggest factor is darkness. Ninety percent of a driver’s reaction depends on vision and, unlike cats, we’re just not engineered to see well in the dark.

Our friend Lori P. shares our passion for finding easier ways to garden and move heavy loads with less effort. Here’s her review of Vermont Garden Carts, which she says she couldn’t live without in her garden and elsewhere:

I have a delicate lower back and wonky knee and need all the help I can get when it comes to carrying things. I’m now 55 and have been using these Vermont Garden Carts since I was in my 20s and working in my first garden.

The cart is so well balanced that I can carry a full load of cordwood and easily flip it up to dump the load, without anyone helping me.

I’ve used them to carry everything from compost and buckets of water to hay, pumpkins, shrubs, ducks and even a lamb or two. Other members of my family have used the same cart to move gravel, car engines, wood stoves and heavy loads of automotive supplies.

Perfect for giving my nieces rides down to the garden, the carts comes in several sizes and can be taken apart for moving, if necessary. To me, my cart is priceless because it makes life so much easier.

Eileen is a Chicago “Trend Spotter” who’s still working while thinking about retirement. She’s reached the point where comfort is a priority, especially when it comes to dealing with her arthritis.

She speaks for many of us when she writes about adjusting for comfort at home, including what her comfort-level demands in the way of clothing:

“It’s making me pickier and pickier in terms of clothes. Clothes that stretch and don’t get in the way when I need to bend my knees or reach over my head. Coats and jackets that are light in weight so they don’t drag on my shoulders when I’m driving or walking, especially walking quickly. Sweaters that keep me warm but aren’t itchy, especially around the neck. (I just decided to give away a super-warm Missoni sweater meant to wear at some ski lodge that is knit beautifully but out of scratchy mohair). Shoes that don’t pinch my toes or have too low or high a heel; boots that let my ankles bend and have rubber soles to help keep me from slipping on snow or ice.”

The right cane is essential, whether you need one to balance as you walk or to help compensate for an injury or disability. You have many choices but the most important thing is a finding a cane with a good fit that will be comfortable to use and decrease your chance of falling.

Shower heads are a perfect environment for a dangerous bacteria related to tuberculosis. Mycobacterium avium thrives in wet, dark environments and can invade the lungs when sprayed from a shower head.

While healthy people are not at risk, the microbes can be dangerous for pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, says the National Academy of Sciences.

“Unfortunately, shower heads have nooks and crannies that make
them hard to clean. Products with bleach can temporarily remove many
microbes, but they just grow back,” researcher Leah Feazel said.

Feazel recommends changing shower heads two to four times a year or switching to a metal shower head and letting the water run a few minutes to flush out pathogens. Bathing is a option because the water droplets are too large to penetrate the lungs, she said.

Our households have full-sized drills, but we admit to have drill-envy when we look at the compact size and price - $26.50 - of this Lithium-Ion 3.6 Volt Driver Set.

Lee Valley says this well-made drill is the primary household drill used in Japan and will hold retain 85 percent of a full charge after more than a year of storage.

It has a quick-release chuck, a forward/reverse trigger, a co-molded soft rubber grip and a switchable LED light. In tests, Lee Valley workers said the drill excelled at small jobs in their shop and around the house.

The drill, small enough to be kept in a drawer, comes in a padded case with 15 screwdriver bits, a magnetic bit extender and two hex-shank drill bits.

Pair it with the Condo Hammer and Mr. 7 Hands and you nearly have a complete tool box — of which could fit in the drawer of your condo, apartment or your grandchild’s dorm room.

We don’t believe these are going to catch fire, so to speak, and appear in many homes, but it’s good to know you can, if you wish, warm your breasts with a computer attachment. (Did we really just write that?)

On the one hand, just the idea of booties and our hands had mittens.

Where would you use these? Maybe plugged into your laptop computer in the stands at a Green Bay Packers Football game? Not likely, though the Japanese-based firm Thanko seems to think they will sell somewhere.

Eds. Note: We can’t imagine they would be very comfortable, and comfort is what we are all about. At the end of a long day, our favorite saying is “Time to let the girls out.”

Cross Click and Clack with the Two Fat Ladies and you end up with something pretty dang close to The Gimpy Girls.

Cheerfully preoccupied with gadgets, gardening, scavenged treasures, and smart design, The Gimpy Girls - Cait & Marty - point you to smart solutions for Baby Boomers, the Disabled, and The Just Plain Lazy. We’re not kidding - this site is the next best thing to those “Cheaters” that are glued to your forehead.